1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a folding electronic device and, more particularly, to a folding electronic device whose hinge is equipped with a hollow portion. And the present invention also relates to a connecting component which has a hollow portion and a camera unit which can be built-in rotatably.
2. Description of the Related Art
For the following description, some of the main terms used therein will be first defined as follows: A “hinge portion” refers to a fulcrum portion for folding an electronic device. A “joint” refers to a portion of each of two bodies jointed together at the “hinge portion”. A “hinge joint” refers to a set of two “joints” jointed together. A “hinge shaft” refers to a portion working as a rotation axis in a “hinge joint”. One “hinge portion” is equipped with one or more “hinge joints”, and one “hinge joint” is equipped with one “hinge shaft”. In some cases, one “hinge shaft” is used as a rotation axis common to some of “hinge joints”. Each of the bodies connected together is equipped with one or more “joints”.
In some folding mobile phones, a small camera is rotatably built into the hinge portion (See JP 2004-104164 A). In such a folding mobile phone, it is possible to direct the small camera to an object behind the phone, with the mobile phone open, and to photograph the object while checking the object on the LCD of the phone. Further, when the small camera points at the side of the LCD, it is possible for the user to photograph himself. Thus, with this mobile phone, it is possible for the user to photograph himself by the small camera while talking over the phone, and to display an image of the person to whom he is talking to on the LCD, and to use the mobile phone as a videophone. The demand for this type of mobile phone is expected to increase.
As shown in JP 2004-104164 A, an ordinary folding mobile phone has some hinge joints for connecting the upper body and the lower body to each other at either end of the hinge portion. Each of the two hinge joints is equipped with a hinge shaft working as the rotation axis for folding.
A flexible board and a coaxial cable for electrical connection between the upper body side and the lower body side are installed in an open space and avoid the hinge shafts in the hinge joints. A camera unit is installed in between the two hinge joints.
As mobile phones become smaller and thinner, the size of the hinge joints and the open space near the hinge shafts in the hinge joints become smaller. As a result, no space is available for the installation of the wiring board and the cable, and there is nothing for it but to use the space between the two hinge joints as the wiring space. This makes it difficult to install the camera unit in the space.
To solve this problem, JP 2003-60764 A discloses a solution that the hinge shaft is installed solely in one of the hinge joints at both ends of the hinge portion. No hinge shaft as a component is used in the other hinge joint, and the two bodies are directly jointed to each other without hinge shafts. The inside of the hinge joint using no hinge shaft is hollow and the space is used for passing the flexible board, etc. As a result, it is possible to secure the space for installing the camera unit between the two hinge joints.
However, in the solution shown in JP 2003-60764 A, in which the number of hinge shafts is reduced from two to one, load is concentrated on the portion of the hinge joint supporting the hinge shaft. Further, the hinge joint using no hinge shaft component is hollow and has rather low mechanical strength. Thus, there is the possibility of the hinge shaft supporting portion of one hinge joint and the hollow portion of the other hinge joint suffering damage, resulting in detachment of the camera unit.